Boo & Rat's Big Adventure: Day 19 Chico, CA to Ely, NV

"Oh Dear God Honey the Hell's Angels are coming after us!"

Okay whoever thought I could stick to a plan was mistaken. The plan was to start making haste towards home via the interstate system. Except maybe taking Hwy 20 over the Sierra Nevada's then picking up I-80 into Reno and points beyond. Hwy 20 through Tahoe National Forest was beautiful with towering pines lining the road with occasional scenic overlooks to the valleys below. Besides Hwy 20 eventually dumps you onto I-80, so we considered it an alternative on ramp to the interstate system. I-80 winding along the Nevada border was beautiful too, crossing the Donner Pass, I hear you can get great Indian food there ( I crack myself up) beautiful until the Nevada line. Nevada thought it a good idea to grind the highway smooth except for all the grooves it left behind which is a motorcyclist nightmare. The traffic was crazy from the tourist and we gleefully exited on the main strip and pulled into the first big casino, Circus Circus. While eating a cheap buffet I pondered over the map. Hwy 50 goes straight across the state with few towns and we could make about the same time traveling Hwy 50. SOLD!

Highway 50 is known by many names here. The first people using this route was the Overland Express followed by the Pony Express. Dotted along the trip across the state were many old out posts and historical markers. It is later known as the Lincoln Highway, a route built 1913 connecting New York City to San Francisco. Then in 1986 Life magazine named it The Loneliest Road in America because of the large expanse of nothing. When we started in Fallon, NV we filled our tanks and ask the attendant how far to the next town. 2 hours at 70 mph to the next town of Austin, then another hour to Eureka and then another hour to Ely. A lot of open area and was it beautiful to boot. Not much vegetation just these little round bushes everywhere. Most of the riding was in flat "basins" surrounded by mountains, drive for a while go over a mountain pass and back into another desolate basin. All of which was 6,000 to 8,000 feet which made for comfortable riding in the mid to low 80 degrees and sunshine.... gorgeous! Made it into Eureka at sunset with another 77 miles to Ely, not crazy about riding in the dark where the cautions signs alternate from Open Range Cattle to Deer to Elk. About 50 miles from Ely pitch black we are catching up to the taillights of a truck, perfect a blocker we can follow. About a half mile before catching him I see him tap his brakes, to tired to register why I kept going, then to my right just beside the road.... ELK!!!! I start yelling over the radio to Steph ...ELK ELK ELK.... but she didn't see it until she passed it on the right. Hearts pounding and wide awake as ever, we were happy to be following this truck closely..... then he TURNED!!! POOH! Alone again in the dark. After a while Steph saw headlights in her mirror, we pulled over and waited... and waited... and waited, you can see stuff a long way off out here. A little white car passed us sitting off to the side of the road and we quickly pulled out to follow them as our shield. Now the car wasn't going very fast on this 70 mph road when they passed but something changed after we pulled out. The little car sped up and was flying I was easily able to keep up but when I reached 75 and they were pulling away I backed down. Even with a blocker car I'm not going that fast in the dark here. Then Steph and started laughing, these poor people probably thought we were some motorcycle gang waiting in the dark looking for victims. We laughed and laughed joking how they were probably in the next town telling the cops of their peril. Close. When we pulled into Ely there was the little white car with a police cruiser parked behind them with lights flashing. Opps, we kind of feel guilty about them getting pulled over, but we saw no benefit of apologizing for it would have probably ended poorly.
Staying here in Ely and hoping our tires are not flat in the morning.
Another Great day and I'm not making any statements on what route we are taking next... who knows!